ProMedica’s decision to close the W.W. Knight Family Medicine Residency Program

I write you today as the concerned CEO of a large Michigan physician organization that is committed to primary care and witness to the value it brings to patients. At a time when our country needs to be focused even more intently on primary care, and when the message of its importance is finally gaining greater understanding among healthcare consumers, the closing of even one family medicine residency program has a negative ripple effect across the nation.

ProMedica’s decision to close the W.W. Knight Family Medicine Residency Program impacts not only the inner-city residents of Toledo but patients on the Michigan/Ohio border as well. Our PO has several physician practices in the area that look to residency programs such as Knight as a feeder for young family physicians to ultimately join their practice and help serve a majority low to middle income patient population. Such patients have limited resources and access to care and are dependent on physicians trained in – and devoted to – primary care.
Further, residency programs such as yours, while perhaps costly to run in the short term, have measurable, long-term benefits to the healthcare community and the patients they serve, notably those affected by social determinants.

If you are looking to gather additional information before a final decision is made, or if there is any possibility that the decision to close the W.W. Knight Family Medicine Residency Program can be reversed, I or one of my executive team would be happy to provide assistance in the process. While there are certainly business considerations in the operation of any residency program, the added social mission of family medicine residency programs in particular cannot be dismissed.

Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to hearing back from you on this very important issue.